Grey’s Anatomy Recap: S13. E17: “Til’ I Hear it From You”

Meredith’s usual opening monologue sets the tone for this episode by noting that no matter what we do in life, things fall apart. Sometimes we can put them back together, but some destruction is irreparable. After this discouraging display of depressing information, we see Meredith filling Alex in on Nathan’s request for a real relationship. Maggie hops in the car, increasingly frustrated over her mother’s obsession with the boob job she supposedly came to Grey-Sloan Memorial to have done. This charade it getting unbearable, and if Maggie doesn’t stop bullying her own mother about decisions she claims to want to make with her own body, muting her every screen presence is going to become pretty enticing.

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An elderly couple is brought to the hospital after the wife takes a fall, and the husband gives directives on his wife’s care after claiming he used to be a cardio surgeon. Owen allows the man to take the lead and tells the residents to follow his orders while Amelia hangs around passing out icy glares to her husband.

As Nathan follows up with Meredith on his proposal to be all in, Meredith frustratedly responds that she has three kids and a job and hasn’t had time to think it over yet. Avoiding, much? Jackson discusses Diane’s chemo results with her and discovers that she hasn’t told Maggie about her breast cancer. Diane insists on not informing her daughter about the cancer until after her surgery is performed so that she can tell Maggie that she “had” cancer and beat it instead.

Maggie comes in to visit her mother during this conversation and gives her usual lecture on the shallow, self-involved surgery she’s about to embark on. Later on as Jackson is examining Diane’s scans in preparation for the surgery, Maggie approaches Jackson about being locked out of her mother’s file. Jackson shuts down her request, instead only encouraging Maggie to provide her mother with support.

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Meanwhile, the residents assisting Amelia and Owen discover their patient’s husband (along the patient herself) is a famous doctor named Dr. Clatch, who helped develop a groundbreaking piece of medical technology. Since that news isn’t exciting enough compared to marital troubles, Owen confronts Amelia over running away from their home and their new marriage, asking her if she’s ever going to come back home. Amelia stares blankly at Owen as he tells her she needs to make up her mind about what she wants.

As the results of Mrs. Dr. Clatch’s tests come back and so rudely interrupt the catty, completely inappropriate for the work place argument, Amelia and Owen deliver the news that Mrs. Clatch has a brain bleed that could potentially kill her at any moment. Dr. Clatch insists that his wife not attempt the surgery that could either give her more time or cause her to die on the table, but Mrs. Clatch attempts to persuade Dr. Shepherd that she needs to take the chance of the surgery to have more time with her husband.

Do you hear this, Owen and Amelia? This couple has been together for decades and would really like for you to take the time out of your domestic dispute to discussion how to make sure a woman doesn’t die and the two of you can’t even exist in the same building without tearing each other apart.

Maggie is in the kitchen, complaining yet again about her mother’s boobs, lamenting over her Diane’s prior exclamations that masturbating made Jesus cry. Meredith tells Maggie that she needs to demand an explanation from her mother about the boob job, but Amelia contradicts that advice once Meredith leaves the room. Amelia, obviously projecting a few of her own issues onto Maggie just like Meredith did, insists that Diane should be able to do whatever she wants with her own body without having to provide anyone an explanation. You do you, Diane.